Colour adjustment: race and representation in post-apartheid South African documentary
The goal of this dissertation is to examine the process of racial transformation within South Africa's documentary film industry and to assess how the nation's shifting identity is both influenced by and reflected in documentary film. Drawing examples from a diverse collection of local and international films, I have examined changes in who is making documentaries in South Africa and how, as well as the representations of race that result. In particular, I have focused on how the balance of insider vs. outsider storytelling may be shifting and to what effect. At the same time, I have qualitatively examined the representations produced by black/insider filmmakers as compared to those of white/outsider filmmakers in order to assess the impact of the filmmaker's racial status on outcomes. Finally, I have investigated ways in which the tradition of white-onblack storytelling must change in order to satisfy the political shift that has taken place in South Africa and the cultural sensitivities that have resulted.
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